more prosperity gospel

back to vitamin z for an update on Joel Osteen’s newest book.

check it out:

So, Joel Osteen sent us an email yesterday to let us know about his new book, It’s Your Time. Joel wanted us to know that we could achieve our dreams with his new book. That was the subject line, seriously.

Here’s more encouragement from Joel O.:

Get your hopes up. Raise your expectations. Expect the unexpected. In challenging times, it may be hard to see better days ahead.

You may feel as though your struggles will never end, that things won’t ever turn around.

This is exactly the moment when you should seek and expect God’s blessings.

It’s your time to declare your faith, to look for God’s favor and to give control of your life to Him so that you can find fulfillment in His plans for you!

here’s more disgusting bilge from the toothy spewer of sewer:

God wants to breathe new life into your dreams. He wants to breathe new hope into your heart. You may be about to give up on a marriage, on a troubled child, on a lifelong goal. But God wants you to hold on. He says if you’ll get your second wind, if you’ll put on a new attitude and press forward like you’ll headed down the final stretch, you’ll see Him begin to do amazing things.

Tune out the negative messages. Quit telling yourself: I’m never landing back on my feet financially. I’m never breaking this addiction. I’m never landing a better job.

Instead, your declarations should be: I am closer than I think. I can raise this child. I can overcome this sickness. I can make this business work. I know I can find a new job.

Take your dreams and the promises God has put in your heart, and every day declare that they will come to pass. Just say something like, “Father, I want to thank you that my payday is coming. You said no good thing will You withhold because I walk uprightly. And I believe even right now you’re arranging things in my favor.”

When you’re tempted to get down and things are not going your way, you need to keep telling yourself “This may be hard. It may be taking a long time. But I know God is a faithful God. And I will believe knowing that my payday is on its way.”

Whenever life grows difficult, and the pressure is turned up, that’s a sign that your time is near. When lies bombard your mind. When you are most tempted to get discouraged. And when you feel like throwing in the towel. That’s not the time to give up. That’s not the time to back down. That’s the time to dig in your heels. Put on a new attitude. You are closer than you think.

God promises your payday is on its way. If you’ll learn to be a prisoner of hope and get up every day expecting God’s favor, you’ll see God do amazing things. You’ll overcome every obstacle. You’ll defeat every enemy. And I believe and declare you’ll see every dream, every promise God has put in your heart. It will come to pass.

emphasis added.  Our “payday is on its way?”  are you kidding me?  check out Matt Chandler right quick, “But you don’t put God in your debt. I know this because really really faithful men in the Scripture have it go really really bad for them.”

Do you believe the witness of scripture or do you believe the spewer of sewer with the big toothy smile?

what does God say in the Bible about our payday?  That we have earned the payment/penalty/wages of death:  “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

If we were to get our “payday” we wouldn’t enjoy it very much.

now just for comparison with the O man, go check out the last 6 or 7 verses in Hebrews 10.

Or, better yet, look for a minute at I Peter 4:12-19

¹²Beloved, do not be surprised at^(A) the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³But rejoice^(B) insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad^(C) when his glory is revealed. ^14(D) If you are insulted^(E) for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory^[a] and of God rests upon you. ¹⁵But^(F) let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or^(G) as a meddler. ¹⁶Yet^(H) if anyone suffers as a^(I) Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God^(J) in that name. ¹⁷For it is time for judgment^(K) to begin at the household of God; and^(L) if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who^(M) do not obey the gospel of God? ¹⁸And

^(N) “If the righteous is scarcely saved,
what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?”^[b]

¹⁹Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will^(O) entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.

could the contrast be any more stark? What Joel Osteen is spewing is a lie from the Liar himself.

As Z says it is damnation with a smile:

What you preach is not Christianity. It’s motivational, positive sounding legalism. “Just follow these rules and you’ll be set” is essentially your message. This is not the gospel. As Michael Horton says, this is “law light”. Sounds good and very nice, but is just as damning. It’s damnation with a smile.